Book Banning
Junior high and high school are, for many, the best years of an adolescent's life. During these impressionable years children transform into young adults. Teens begin to form personal ideas and beliefs about the world around them based on experiences gained through the social and academic arena. Students are immersed in friendships, first loves, and extracurricular activities, as well as a growing and learning experience. As students travel the road of their educational careers, teachers begin to demand more work and no longer "spoon feed" information to students; rather, pupils are expected to work through ideas with only guidance from instructors. As they advance in years of schooling, students are gradually given more freedom and responsibility in regards to the path their education will take. Along with the freedom that is gained, students are expected to be more active in their education by broadening their thoughts and ideas. Each year students are exposed to more critical ideas through a broad array of literature that pushes their current boundaries of knowledge. This new knowledge is often information that parents consider inappropriate for their developing young adults to be exposed to. Because of this, parents h
Though parents have a legitimate right to supervise any materials that their children are exposed to, this right does not extend this censorship to the children of others. Parents must be cautious not to infringe their personal beliefs on whole school districts or communities. At times, the protective instincts of parents can threaten the sanctity of the freedom of expression for those around them. Because parents often want to protect their children from the upsetting knowledge that comes with growing up, schoolchildren are kept from encountering new ideas and growing intellectually by not being allowed to read certain material. Parents have filed formal complaints with school boards in order to ensure that their children are not exposed to certain pieces of literature, which contain information that is considered, by parents, to be inappropriate. The numerous books that parents have a problem with can be distinguished by the fact that "all of these novels and writers cater to a younger audience while at the same time tackling mature subject matter" (Banned, par. 2). While protecting one's offspring is a concern that anyone can understand, there is a fine line between protecting a child from harm and inhibiting a child's education. Parental concern is expected, but that concern should not completely shelter young adults from the world around them. Young adults have the right to be exposed to real world situations, so that they can begin to form opinions and ideals for themselves. Book banning violates the personal freedom that each American citizen is given by the Constitution; therefore, the school board should revoke the decision to ban certain books from being used as educational sources. express oneself through a chosen mo
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Approximate Word count = 1183
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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